comment

The 20-year-old former Binghamton University student who admitted the fatal love-triangle stabbing a 19-year-old ex-high school soccer standout from Westchester this past spring was sentenced on Tuesday.

Michael Roque, who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison in Broome County Court for the on-campus stabbing of Rye Brook resident Joao Souza. He is being held in jail until his sentencing on Nov. 16.

Souza, a freshman engineering student who graduated from Blind Brook High School, was stabbed several times in a residential hall on Sunday, April 15.

Roque had reportedly transferred to Binghamton to be with his ex-girlfriend from Massapequa High School in Nassau County. Souza was reportedly in a relationship with the woman at the time he was attacked by Roque.

Roque was quickly identified as a suspect after being caught on surveillance cameras and he was subsequently arrested. At the time, police said that the incident was not a random act. Roque was indicted on the murder charge on May 14.